Until I was a junior in college, I wasn’t a big fan of hockey. Now, I don’t think there is a week that goes by where I don’t watch at least one game.
While I was in college, my best friend, Nicole, and I would spend random weekends in Rochester with my parents. I would fall asleep on the couch and her and my dad would stay up until who-knows-when to watch hockey fights on YouTube.
The two of them would spend most of the weekend discussing hockey and how their teams are doing. Dad is a Boston Bruins fan and Nicole is a New York Islanders fan. Both teams play each other regularly, which always made for fun banter between the two of them.
I started to get into the sport when I was a junior in college and my uncle was an assistant equipment manager for the Pittsburgh Penguins. That season turned out to be pretty special as they won the Stanley Cup.
I got even more into the sport during my senior year of college when I started a photography internship with the Rochester Americans (Amerks), which is an AHL team back home.
I have loved hockey ever since and have no idea why I was never a big fan of the sport before.
A few months before I accepted a job in New Mexico, my uncle took an equipment manager job with the Colorado Avalanche.
They are, and will forever be, my team.
While for most people it’s just supporting a team, it’s so much more for my family.
My grandma and I send bitmojis to each other whenever the Avs or the team they are playing against score. We basically only have bitmoji conversations during games unless something drastic happens that we need actual words to talk about. Besides that, the vast amount of bitmojis that exist normally do the trick.
We try to make sure we are both watching the same part of the game so nothing gets spoiled for the other person. My grandparents and dad have a great habit of starting the game late so they can fast forward through commercials and intermission.
I have to be careful if I talk to my dad during a hockey game because I never know how far behind he is and I don’t want to ruin the game for him. I have done that plenty of times though.
Whenever I FaceTime my mom, my dad and I always talk about hockey — how the Avs and Bruins are doing, what we think the playoffs will be like and so on. We also normally discuss any good fights that happened.
Since my grandparents aren’t on social media, whenever I talk on the phone with them I fill them in on injury updates and anything else important I found out on Twitter.
The Avs have their final regular season game on May 13 and then the playoffs start.
The playoffs are my favorite part, but the most stressful and nerve wracking part of the season.
If it’s a possible season-ending playoff game or the score is very close, my grandma and I will talk on the phone for the majority of the game.
I tend to feel very bad for my neighbors during hockey season, especially the playoffs cause I yell at the TV a lot.
I also yell “let them fight,” especially if helmets have been thrown off and punches are being thrown. My dad and I always talk about how there aren’t many fights in hockey any more and if there is a fight, it’s not that great.
Hockey has definitely made my family a lot closer. My grandma absolutely loves it when she wakes up after an Avs game to photos of my uncle on TV. I always pause the game when I spot him so I can take a photo and send it to her.
Now that the playoffs are about to start, I’m trying to get my friends in Socorro into the sport so that I have people to watch the games with. It amazes me how few people in this state are into hockey.

Caitie Ihrig